The Center for Creative Healing » Stories of Hope and Healing

Evy McDonald: The Power of Love

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:22:32 +0000

Early in 1980, Evy McDonald felt her body begin to crumble. The middle-aged nurse lost the ability to control her movements, and soon enough she couldn’t walk at all. Her doctor diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It was a death sentence. The doctor predicted she would not survive the year. Her muscles wasted away. She felt, she said, “like a bowl of Jello in a wheelchair.”[1] She hated her body for all the ways it had let her down. For a few months she stewed, depressed and angry. But after enough time had passed, she couldn’t help but remember what she often taught others about the connection between the mind and the body—and she got curious. What could she do to make the most of her last few months? She decided she needed to change her relationship to her body. All her life, [Read More …]

True North: Calling the Circle

admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:05:27 +0000

It all started when a book landed on pediatric nurse practitioner Kathryn Landon-Malone's foot. She says she was studying for her certificate in Holistic Nursing when it happened. Browsing the Women's Studies section at Barnes and Noble, she reached for a book and as she pulled it off the shelf, another one fell and landed on her foot. She opened the book to its preface and began to read. When people sit in Circle, wrote its author, Christina Baldwin-when everybody's voice is of equal value, when people speak and listen from the heart-monumental changes can happen. She called it "Circle Process." The idea was simple, really, but profound. Landon-Malone bought the book, took it home and read it cover to cover, and when she finished reading, she put Calling the Circle up on a shelf. Not yet. She knew a day would come when she [Read More …]

The Singing Revolution

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:55:53 +0000

In their own way and in their own time, and using their voices alone, the people of Estonia fought for their independence. Estonian activist Heinz Valk called it “the Singing Revolution.” He says of that time, “Until now, revolutions have been filled with destruction, burning, killing and hate, but we started our revolution with a smile and a song.”[Read More …]

Story of Hope: Pete Seeger

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:20:09 +0000

Our stories can heal us.

Our own stories, when told in new ways, can heal us; and we can also be healed by one another’s stories. Sometimes our voices tell our stories. Sometimes they sing them out.[Read More …]

The Butterfly in the Diving Bell

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:39:17 +0000

In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was at the top of his game. He was the high-powered editor-in-chief of the French Elle magazine. He had a beautiful home and plenty of money, two sweet children and a beautiful new girlfriend. He reveled in good food and good wine. He was well-liked, and well-loved. He had plenty of friends in high places. He was 43 years old, and he was one of the movers and shakers.

Then one day, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.[Read More …]

Ro Vaccaro: The Butterfly Lady

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:07:42 +0000

She saved monarch memorabilia the way a mother saves all of her firstborn’s artwork and school assignments. Boxes and boxes of letters, handouts, and newspaper clippings. If it had to do with the monarch butterflies of Pacific Grove, California, Ro Vaccaro put it in a box and kept it.

“I wear a butterfly every day, at least somewhere-but usually multiple butterflies. I have a butterfly watch, butterfly earrings, butterflies on my shoes and socks.”

Ro Vaccaro, the “Butterfly Lady” of Pacific Grove, lived and breathed monarch butterflies.

She came upon her first-in the shape of an exquisite pin-many years earlier, at an estate auction. She picked up the pin and held it in her hand. She was in the middle of a divorce at the time, and she said to her sister, Beverly, “I feel better just holding it.” That was the beginning of a metamorphosis that would transform her life.
[Read More …]